Toshiba’s Satellite P850-B385 is a laptop designed for professionals looking to run productivity applications. It has powerful specifications so it can perform well with data-heavy applications.

It is powered by Intel i7 2.40GHz processor and runs on the Windows 8 (64 bit) operating system. The Satellite comes with 8GB RAM and a 1TB hard disk drive. It is heavy and bulky, coming in at 2.66 kilogrammes, but comes with a brushed aluminum chassis with a polycarbonate base.

The 15.6-inch screen has a resolution of 1,366 x 768 pixels, but its a non-touch device. The chunky thick black bezel around the screen does nto look like a premium design.

The main advantage of the laptop is that it has four USB 3.0 ports for faster data transfer, compared to others with only two USB 3.0 ports. The Toshiba also has a HDMI, VGA options and a DVD drive. Connectivity options include: Bluetooth 4.0., WiFi, an ethernet port and a card reader.

The sleep-and-charge and sleep-and-music features allow the user to charge mobile devices and play music from an external MP3 player even when the laptop is switched off. The speakers are tiny but they are Harman Kardon, supported by Slipstream port technology, and deliver a rich, clear surround sound. Listening to MP3 songs on this laptop was truly awesome.

Although the keys are wide, the keyboard still feels cramped. This might be because of the smaller return and backspace keys. The keyboard is illuminated and the spacious clickpad is very sensitive to the multi-touch control gestures used for various scroll, zoom and launch functions.

The Satellite comes with its fair share of bloatware, which may not appeal to some users, although some are very useful. The Toshiba PC Health Monitor proactively checks your notebook’s health and helps you detect system problems in advance. Its Eco Utility feature allows you to manage your laptop’s power consumption to extend battery life and reduce environmental impact. The Satellite also sports protection that safeguards your data from drops and shocks.

Playing games on the laptoop was a breeze due to a dedicated Nvidia graphics card. The heat ventilation on its right is huge and the machine does not get warm when used for a long time.

The removable lithium-ion battery is average compared to the Satellites specifications, with a life of close to four hours. It is priced at Dh4,929.